In Transit : Narratives of German Jews in Exile, Flight, and Internment during "The Dark Years" of France

The title of the book "In Transit" — as a reference to the novel written by Anna Seghers — functions on two levels: On a narrative level, it is a primary metaphor for the fate of all German Jews who fled from the Third Reich and found themselves in France doubly stigmatized as Germans — the despised boches — and as juifs. On another level, "In Transit" offers perspectives on the Occupation of France and the Vichy regime — the so-called Dark Years — that have not been part of the Vichy debate. So how did German Jews who fled from Nazi Germany to France narrate and document their experiences? This book tells their stories, and in a sense brings them back home to Germany, where they always wanted to belong. It is high time to bring these narratives out of exile and place them firmly on the ground of the Vichy regime. Biographische Informationen Ruth Schwertfeger is Professor of German at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her dissertation at Oxford on the German Expressionist Georg Kaiser led to her engagement with exile studies and with the Holocaust. Schwertfeger is the author of Women of Theresienstadt and Else Lasker-Schüler, both published by Berg Publishers, Oxford and The Wee Wild One: Stories of Belfast and Beyond, published by the University of Wisconsin Press. The title of the book 'In Transit'-as a reference to the novel written by Anna Seghers-functions on two On a narrative level, it is a primary metaphor for the fate of all German Jews who fled from the Third Reich and found themselves in France doubly stigmatized as Germans-the despised boches-and as juifs. On another level, 'In Transit' offers perspectives on the Occupation of France and the Vichy regime-the so-called Dark Years-that have not been part of the Vichy debate. So how did German Jews who fled from Nazi Germany to France narrate and document their experiences? This book tells their stories, and in a sense brings them back home to Germany, where they always wanted to belong. It is high time to bring these narratives out of exile and place them firmly on the ground of the Vichy regime. The Ruth Schwertfeger is Professor of German at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Her dissertation at Oxford on the German Expressionist Georg Kaiser led to her engagement with exile studies and with the Holocaust. Schwertfeger is the author of Women of Theresienstadt and Else Lasker-Schler, both published by Berg Publishers, Oxford and The Wee Wild Stories of Belfast and Beyond, published by the University of Wisconsin Press. Examines the narratives of German Jews who fled from the Nazi Reich to France in 1933-40 or, in some cases, were deported in the early stage of the war, focusing on their representations of the "phony war" period and the "Dark Years" of the German occupation and the Vichy regime (1940-44). The narratives under discussion vary from works of fiction written by prominent writers, such as Seghers, Werfel, Feuchtwanger, Koestler, and Döblin, to memoirs by less known people and audio-visual testimonies by rank-and-file survivors; some of the latter were children during the war and later gave accounts of their childhood in their writings. Foreign Jews bore the brunt of the maltreatment under the Vichy state - both at the hands of the French government and the German occupiers, both as the despised "boches" and as Jews. The narratives provide accounts and interesting perspectives on the exile and flight, as well as on internment in numerous French camps and "reception centers", such as Gurs, Le Vernet, Les Milles, Rivesaltes, Rieucros, and Tence. (From the Bibliography of the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism - The Hebrew University of Jerusalem) Long description: The title of the book In Transit -- as a reference to the novel written by Anna Seghers -- functions on two levels: On a narrative level, it is a primary metaphor for the fate of all German Jews who fled from the Third Reich and found themselves in France doubly stigmatized as Germans -- the despised boches -- and as juifs. On another level, In Transit offers perspectives on the Occupation of France and the Vichy regime -- the so-called Dark Years -- that have not been part of the Vichy debate. So how did German Jews who fled from Nazi Germany to France narrate and document their experiences? This book tells their stories, and in a sense brings them back home to Germany, where they always wanted to belong. It is high time to bring these narratives out of exile and place them firmly on the ground of the Vichy regime